Thankful for Community
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.”
Psalm 118:1a
If I only had one word to describe what I’m most grateful for this Thanksgiving, it would be the word “community.” By community, I’m not simply referring to a single geographical location. Instead, I mean the larger “reciprocal rootedness” that I share with my family, faith, and school communities. Author Burk Parsons writes, “Community is not just getting together; it is living together, suffering together, rejoicing together, and dying together.” Our family, church, school, and local community have certainly done life together this year.
2023 VHHS Senior football players
A lot of our Evans’ family life this fall has centered around our local high school’s football team where our son Robert serves. Overall, the Vestavia Hills High School Rebels were 9-3, qualifying for the Alabama state playoffs, before losing out in the second round to last year’s defending state champion. I’m so very grateful for our coaches, players, parents, school administrators, and local community for their hard work and generous support. It takes enormous resources to make local high school football games happen each Friday night.
But football isn’t just about the win/loss record, is it? It’s also about building relationships and cultivating community as generations come together to support and encourage young athletes and students. It has been a great privilege to see former players and parents come out to support our current players. Some of my husband’s former players are now parents of our son’s current players! Looking around a packed stadium recently I thought, “Thank you, Lord! These are my people!” Some of our youngest fans were just a few weeks old while their grandparents and great-grandparents represented decades. In an age of extreme political partisanship, we were all united around one group of young men and women.
I am also grateful that our extended family has shared the inevitable highs and lows that football seasons on every level bring. Ask any coach’s family and you will hear, “The highs are so high, and the lows are so low!” Bruce and I are so very blessed that our children and grandchildren have been here with us this year as we’ve processed our grief from James Bruce’s death, battled breast cancer, and recovered from open heart surgery. God, in His grace and kindness, has used our family, faith, and football communities to provide some much-needed support and stability to our times. (Isaiah 33:6)
Our faith community has also been an integral part of life this fall. I had the privilege of leading over forty women through a ten-week Bible study using Robert J. Morgan’s excellent book The Red Sea Rules. Together we examined ten God-given strategies for dealing with adversity and difficult life situations.
The Gospel Coalition Women’s (TGCW) How to Teach the Bible Cohort provided an excellent learning opportunity for me this fall. 330 women from 47 states and 31 countries came together to encourage each other and learn how to better teach the Bible. I’ve been teaching Bible studies and Sunday School classes for forty years but am so grateful to have some new tools for my teacher toolbox!
Author Jane Howard writing on community says, “Call it a clan, call it a tribe, call it a network, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” John Ortberg agrees saying, “The yearning to attach and connect, to love and be loved, is the fiercest longing of the soul. Our need for community with people and the God who made us is to the human spirit what food and air and water are to the human body.”
Finally, I’m grateful for each of you, the Bible Bits community. Thank you for reading what I write. Thank you for encouraging me to keep writing. Thank you for praying for my family, for rejoicing when we rejoice, and weeping when we weep. (Romans 12:15 ESV)
“I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart.” Psalm 138:1 (ESV)
Happy Thanksgiving!